by Parker, Ali
“Catch any waves?” Tanner asked.
“What? Waves?”
“Yeah, at the beach. You pick up surfing?”
“Oh right. No, not particularly into surfing.”
“So what then?” he asked. “You don’t look too tanned either.”
“No, I am,” I said, knowing that I’d been working with my shirt off at the Larson Dude Ranch.
“Then what’ve you been getting up too? Say where did you go anyway?”
“Rockport at first for a few days, then I hit Padre and been staying there in a little bungalow. Mostly I’ve just been doing some fishing and hanging out. Drinking on the beach, going for a swim. Eating some barbecue and getting some rest.”
“Mmhmm,” he said, looking at me funny like he didn’t believe me.
“What?”
“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Tanner stopped walking and looked at me. Here was my chance. I could tell him everything if I wanted to. But I didn’t know how he would take it, and he’d warned me to stay away from the Larson Dude Ranch. He had been the one that was with me when I saw her at the livestock show and rodeo that day. And I didn’t want him to try and stop me from going back, so I kept it to myself.
“Nope, nothing to tell. Now, are we going to get started or you going to be late for date night?”
“All right, all right, let’s get to the silos and load some grain bins. Look at these weights,” he said, referring to the measurements of the shipments that were being picked up in the morning by the company we provided grain to.
“I see them. Going to take a couple of hours to fill that much.”
“Well, let’s get started on it now.”
“I already have the crate trailer hitched to the truck. Let’s jump in and drive it over to the silo and get the pour going.”
“Yep.”
We jumped in the truck and drove toward the back of the property where the tall silos were located. We got to work quickly and efficiently. Tanner was working fast and hard because he wanted to make sure he had time to get home and shower for date night. I was doing the same because I wanted to call Helen sooner rather than later. Plus working this fast made it impossible for him to ask me any more questions about the beach.
By the time we were done, the sun was setting on the horizon. It was a lot later than I wanted it to be. I could see that Abi had already gone inside to start on dinner when she waved at us from the back porch.
“What time are they coming to get this?” Tanner asked.
“The work order says the truck will be here between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.,” I said, reading over the instructions.
“Good, that’ll be plenty of time and things will definitely be up and running. Unless you two sleep in late.”
“When do we ever?” I said.
“Never. Alright, let’s take the truck back to the house so I can get going,” Tanner said.
“I’m ready,” I said, jumping in the driver’s seat.
A few moments later, I parked the truck in the driveway in front of the house. Tanner gave me a slap on the shoulder and jumped out, heading for his own truck. I stayed inside the cab watching him drive away. Here was my chance. The windows were rolled up in the truck and gave me some privacy while Abi was inside. I pulled out my phone and called Helen.
There was no answer. I called her again and it went to voicemail. I left a message this time.
“Helen, it’s me Dylan. I got your text message and I’m trying to make sense of it. Please call me back. I miss you.”
24
Helen
I poured coffee into my cup at the outdoor dining area. My phone was vibrating. I quickly took it out of my pocket and saw that it was Dylan, and shoved it back into my pocket. I’d been doing this for days, ignoring him. It was necessary. I wanted him to stay away and that meant that I needed to cut him loose, and coldly if that was what it took.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” I asked one of the guests walking down the dessert line placing a few cookies on his plate after lunch.
“Don’t mind if I do.”
“Allow me,” I said, pouring coffee into a mug and placing it on his tray. He thanked me and continued going down the line eventually sitting at one of the tables we had set up. The ranch was booked solid and I was glad for it. Things were starting to pick up now that summer had officially started and kids were out of school. This was always a good time for us, and I was more than happy to do a lot of work. I had buried myself in the work for days now because it was a good distraction from the incident with Billy. After hearing her say those things to me, I was more determined than ever to purge Dylan from my mind. That would not be an easy thing, but keeping busy with a completely booked ranch helped. It also kept me away from town and from having another humiliating run in.
It was possible that Billy had been spreading gossip about me and because of that I wasn’t eager to show my face around establishments in town. At least my guests were strangers to these parts, just people vacationing from other areas.
After all the guests were served, I grabbed a plate of pecan pie myself and sat down at a table with my cup of coffee.
“Can I sit with you Helen?” Todd Bradley asked me.
“Yes, of course.”
“I’ve only been here one night and I already love it.”
“Well, I am definitely glad to hear that. Especially since you’re writing about my little ranch here. I’m hoping that you’ll end up writing about how much you enjoyed it,” I said.
“Absolutely. I was a little hesitant when I got this assignment, since I’m a city guy after all. But I can already see the beauty in really getting away from it all and going through the motions of a simplistic ranch lifestyle. The manual labor is good for you, and your mind,” he said.
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” I said, looking at him. Todd was a writer from Chicago. He was on assignment to write a vacation piece about the Larson Dude Ranch and I was more than happy to accommodate him and help with any questions he had. This was free advertising after all, especially since so far, he was happy with the experience. He wasn’t bad to look at either. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and a very gentlemanly vibe, too. There was nothing rough about him at all, with smooth hands and silver-rimmed eyeglasses. He looked like the writer he was.
“I did a few ranch things after arriving last night, and of course this morning. But what do you say to giving me the grand tour and showing me some chores that you do? It would give me something to write about, and help put a little spin on the story,” he asked.
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Great.”
He smiled at me and I felt something a little different than with the other guests. He smiled at me as though he had just asked me on a date. This was interesting. He was about my age, a career guy, and he wasn’t married as far as I could tell. Whether or not he was actually single, I did not know.
After lunch, I gave him a tour, and went over some of the basic ranch duties there was to do that might intrigue people that were reading his article. I didn’t want to pick things that were too hard to make it seem like arduous work, so instead, I took him to feed the chickens.
“Well, this seems easy enough, even for a city guy like me,” he said, spreading the chicken feed around on the ground as chickens clucked around him.
“Yes, you’ve definitely got the hang of it. How would you like to help me collect eggs for breakfast tomorrow?”
“Really? You do that here?” His brow raised as though this was a shock.
“Oh yes, we use a farm to table standard for most of the food here. The eggs, as well as vegetables from our garden and a few of the crops out there come from the ranch. We get our cheese from the neighboring dairy farm, but the milk is fresh from our cows.”
“Wow, that kind of eating would cost a pretty penny in the city. Clean and organic eating at a restaurant like that is pretty expensive,” he said.
“And here it is a
ll included in the price. Fresh local food, never processed,” I said.
“I do like things fresh,” he said. But for some reason, the line came out very flirty. We both took a pause as we looked at each other. Then I broke the chemistry.
“Grab a basket and we’ll go into the coop and get some eggs now,” I said.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied.
We went inside the chicken coop.
“So you just grab these? Should I grab them gently?” He hesitated, clearly unsure and I burst out laughing at the sight. He did make me laugh with his timid ways. I reached out my hand toward an egg to show him at the same time he did. Our hands touched, and for a moment we just looked at each other. I quickly pulled my hand away suddenly feeling guilty. Why did I feel like I was cheating on Dylan? That did not make any sense at all.
“I’m just going to grab the ones on this side,” I said, moving away from him to the other side of the coop. It had been a long time since I felt any sort of spark with a man that was around my age, and not Dylan Dawson. This felt good, this was more right than Dylan. I smiled as I felt a small glimmer of hope that I could find love again with a single man closer to my age down the line. Maybe not this particular man, but a man like him. I knew that that would not be possible if I kept messing around with a younger ranch hand.
“All done, what next?” he said.
“Good job. Follow me,” I said, leading him out of the coop and toward the main kitchen refrigerator where Eddie kept the ingredients for his amazing cowboy meals. We put the baskets of eggs in the refrigerator.
“I know that was a fairly simple task, but it was very rewarding. Doing the farm work knowing that you will be feeding people later, gives you a really good sense of self,” Todd said, looking off in the distance as though he was having this thought spontaneously for the first time.
“Yes, exactly. You see the Larson Dude Ranch isn’t just a dude ranch where you could come pretend to be cowboy, it is so much more than that. It gives people an appreciation for where their food comes from, and the work it takes to get it in front of them. It builds a sort of reward. I think something like that is lost on today’s generation of kids, and we just want to give it back to them with the parents.”
He smiled a big smile. “That is really beautiful, and is definitely going in the article.”
We both laughed at how cheesy it all seemed, even though it was true.
“Now, I’ve got to go pitch hay into the feeders for the cows. Want to join?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” he said.
“Alright cowboy, this way,” I said. Todd stood up a little taller as though enjoying the fact that he’d been called a cowboy. City guys seemed to like that a lot. There was something attractive about being called that, and even more attractive to actually be one. An image of Dylan riding horseback without a shirt on suddenly hit me. I had to shake it off.
We spent the rest of the day, doing things around the ranch together. I was actually having fun with Todd, mostly because of his city ways. He made fun of himself and his inability to do ranch things, and I found it endearing that he could make fun of himself. We had some good laughs and it was even easy to not think about Dylan as the day went on.
In the late afternoon, I excused myself from my new reporter friend and headed to my office. It was time for some light bookkeeping, and checking the office phone messages and emails. I entered my house and sat down to take off my boots and cowboy hat. It was a warm day, but not too hot. I poured myself a nice glass of iced sweet tea and headed to my office. My phone began to vibrate again in my back pocket. I pulled it out. It was Dylan calling me. I sighed and set it down on my desk, ignoring it.
I checked my emails and responded to inquiries from potential guests with questions about booking a bungalow. The office phone had a few voicemails asking the same questions. I returned the calls and answered questions. I was doing everything except checking the voicemail on my mobile phone.
When I was done, I turned to the books and added up some bills and accounts. Charged a few cards and completed some general tasks. But my mobile phone kept reminding me that I had a message waiting. Finally, I listened.
“Helen, it’s me—again. I don’t know what’s going on and why you keep avoiding me. I miss you.”
The message was breaking up and hard to hear, but I understood. I deleted it and did not return the call. I felt mean, but maybe if I were mean enough, he would get the message and go back to his own life. This was a short-lived sexy rendezvous, nothing more.
Office work all caught up, I ran upstairs to take a shower before heading back out to join the guests for dinner. I put on a nice fringed skirt, white boots, and a long-sleeved snap button western shirt. I pulled my hair into a ponytail since I always helped Eddie with the food.
Dinner was a hearty meal of cowboy stew with garlic bread roasted in the outdoor oven. It smelled good on the nice warm summer night. The sun was setting late these days so it was still light during dinner hours.
“I have to say this is the best stew I’ve ever had in my life. I don’t know if it’s because I know what work went into it, and that the vegetables are fresh from your garden or what,” Todd said, sitting next to me at the outdoor table.
“Then that is something you should include in your article, that our cook Eddie is top-notch,” I teased him.
“Looks like you have more guests checking in,” he said, with his gaze set toward the road.
My heart fell to my stomach as I looked toward the road and saw a familiar truck coming down the drive. It was Dylan’s. I should have known that he would just show up, he did it before.
I suddenly felt complete conflict. A part of me wanted to get up and run to him as though he was my long-lost lover. The other half of me was angry and stayed in place. Why did he not stay away? Didn’t he know he was only making things worse by coming back?
“Helen? Are you alright?” Todd asked. I had almost forgotten he was there.
“I’m fine. Sorry,” I said with a smile.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said.
“I do?”
“Something like that,” he said.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I said, glancing back at the driveway.
“He a friend of yours?” Todd asked.
“Oh, that’s Dylan. He’s a ranch hand here for the summer, but he went back east. I wasn’t expecting him back so soon is all.” But Todd looked at me like he didn’t believe me. I had to dig deep for something. “I was just thinking about the paycheck I owe him. Wasn’t expecting to have to pay him so soon.”
“I see. That’s understandable,” he nodded and dipped his garlic bread into his stew. I was grateful that he believed it.
Looking at Dylan’s truck now parked, he climbed out. Seeing him for the first time in days made my breath catch in my throat. How did he have that effect on me? From across the ranch he looked around and then headed directly for the guests’ dinner seating. My heart was beating rapidly as though it was going to leap out of my chest. I wondered if Todd could hear it, because I felt like he could. My palms began to sweat and I was both anxious and excited to see Dylan. Forcing my nerves to be steady was not going to be an easy thing.
25
Dylan
Driving up to the Larson Dude Ranch made me feel better almost instantly. It had been a rough few days for me simply because Helen had been ignoring me. I had called her, left her a voicemail, and sent her long text messages. I was starting to feel like a very annoying stalker. Finally, my brothers had returned to the ranch and I was able to get away early Saturday morning. I left before the sun came up and made my way back to the Texas Hill Country.
The place looked full, there were many vehicles in the lot. That was a good thing, and I was glad that everything was being kept busy. I was even more excited to see that it hadn’t been burned down. I had been in contact with Marshall and Eddie on a daily basis, making sure that the fire watch was kept going. But
you never knew what could happen in a couple of hours.
“Howdy y’all. Good evening. Howdy,” I said walking by the picnic tables that were filled with almost every spot taken. This was good. The smell of garlic bread and stew hit me and my stomach grumbled just a little. It had been a long drive.
Then I saw her, the woman of my dreams. She was sitting at a far table having dinner, and at her side was a man around her age. He looked like a gentleman from the city, and he was staring at her with a sparkle in his eye. Immediate jealousy hit me like a punch in the gut. Who the hell was he? Was this guy the reason she had asked me not to come back? Was it because there was someone else? I tried to keep the fake smile on my face as I walked closer to her.
“Helen.”
“Dylan, I wasn’t expecting you back.”
“I told you I would be.”
“Hey, the name is Todd.” The man sitting next to her interrupted our greeting and held out his hand. I shook his hand feeling the smooth skin, definitely a city man.
I shook his hand and simply nodded a greeting.
“Can I have your attention everyone?” Eddie shouted.
The commotion of conversation lowered.
“I just wanted to call your attention to the fresh peach cobbler and brownie dishes that I just brought out for dessert!”
The crowd started to clap and cheer, while Eddie took a playful bow. Then he saw me and walked over, giving me a slap on the shoulder.
“Dylan, good to have you back. Let me get you a bowl of stew and some bread.”
“Thank you, Eddie. I would like that kindly,” I said, taking a seat directly across from Helen. My eyes never left hers and I could see her cheeks flushing pink.
“Coming right up, son,” Eddie moved away to serve me a bowl.
I had so many questions for Helen, but they would have to wait. I was not expecting to find her in such company. Expectations that had crossed my mind on the drive had not been met. I thought I would find her alone in the house or on the ranch and be able to ask why she had been ignoring me. I needed to know what her cryptic text message meant. It was all driving me insane.
